Poll: Voters warn against government shutdown

A majority of voters think Congress should avoid shutting down the federal government — and members shouldn’t threaten a shutdown to enact policy changes, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll conducted on the eve of another possible lapse in government funding.

Sixty-three percent say members of Congress should avoid a shutdown at all costs. Only 18 percent of voters surveyed say members should allow a temporary government shutdown if it helps them achieve their policy goals. The remaining 19 percent of voters are undecided.

Story Continued Below

The government is currently scheduled to run out of funding on Friday. GOP leaders in Congress are planning a vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government operating on Thursday.

“Despite a deeply polarized electorate, our polling indicates voters are unified in their opposition against a potential government shutdown,” said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult co-founder and chief research officer. “Notably, 68 percent of Democrats, 62 percent of Republicans and 61 percent of independents say Congress should take all of the necessary steps to avoid a government shutdown.”

There are some partisan differences, however, when it comes to the issues on which voters might support a government shutdown. More than 4 in 10 voters, 42 percent, say reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which expired at the end of September, is definitely worth shutting down the government — including 53 percent of Democrats, 36 percent of Republicans and 37 percent of independents.

Keep up with POLITICO Playbook

The 2020 Election. The New Congress. The Mueller Investigation. Be in the Know.

Email

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

More than a third, 34 percent, say awarding hurricane-recovery aid to Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico is definitely important enough to prompt a government shutdown. And 33 percent say increasing defense funding is definitely important enough to shut down the government.

But few voters see immigration as worth shutting down the government over. Only 20 percent of voters say it is definitely worth shutting down the government in order to secure funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a priority of President Donald Trump. More than one-third of Republicans, 43 percent, supporting shutting down the government to build the border wall, but only 13 percent of Democrats and 13 percent of independents agree.

A quarter, 25 percent, say it would definitely be worth shutting down the government in order to grant protection from deportation to undocumented young people who were brought to the U.S. as children. Democratic voters (34 percent) are more likely to say shielding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients from deportation is definitely worth shutting down the government than Republicans (20 percent) or independents (20 percent).

The poll also shows a small uptick in Trump’s approval rating as president — to 45 percent, up from 43 percent last week. A slight majority, 51 percent, disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president.

The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll was conducted Dec. 1-3, surveying 1,997 registered voters. The survey was already in the field when the Senate narrowly advanced legislation overhauling the tax code early Saturday morning.

A plurality of voters, 46 percent, support legislation introduced by congressional Republicans that makes widespread changes to the U.S. tax system — catch-all language used to describe the GOP’s tax efforts, despite the differences between bills that have passed the House and Senate. Fewer voters, 37 percent, oppose Republicans’ tax legislation.

The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy